Stereolab keyboardist and vocalist Mary Hansen, 36, was killed when
her bicycle was struck by a car in London on December 9th. "It is
with great regret and deep sadness that I must announce the death
of Mary," a terse statement on the band's site reads. "We will all
miss her dearly. Stereolab."

Stereolab formed in the early Nineties in London and quickly
emerged as one of the most innovative alternative bands of the era,
matching lo-fi aesthetics and Marxist politics to the sounds of
Sixties pop, lounge, jazz and dance with lyrics sometimes sung in
French.

Hansen made her debut with the group on the band's second
full-length release and major-label debut, 1993's Transient
Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements. Stereolab's most
recent release was a compilation of BBC recordings, ABC Music:
The Radio 1 Sessions, released in the U.K. The band had been
working on its next record and planned to convene in the studio in
January.